Christmas Panettone, with Chinese characteristics

Every year one of my Christmas traditions is making panettone in my trusty breadmaker. After waking at the crack of dawn to rip open presents, eating thickly cut slices of panettone spread liberally with butter along with a cup or two of freshly brewed coffee is a must. This year I was stressing about not being able to find pine nuts and candied lemon peel (I sometimes make my own, but they do take a lot of time and I am trying not to be supermum). Then I had a flash of inspiration: why not make a Chinese-style version using some gourmet ingredients I already had in the kitchen.

Christmas panettone, still in the breadmaker tin

So I experimented with my Chinese-style panettone. The main inspiration was some amazing Hong Kong produced glace ginger that a friend gifted me. It had been sitting in my cupboard for a while because I was savouring it for a special moment. It is seriously good, the retro Chinese tin hiding amber orbs that when sliced resemble devotional stained-glass windows only with the warmth of ginger: perfect for a Chinese Christmas.

Then I decided to add some goji berries and walnuts (currently one of my favourite combinations), plus some star anise. Apparently anise is traditionally added to panettone from the Lombardy region so in a sense it is not that strange.

I added my goji berries to the breadmaker too early, so they kind of got all mushed up. The result was a saffron coloured and textured bread that almost looked like the golden sun as it rose in the breadmaker (actually, mine rose a bit too much but although it looks a bit lopsided it is still okay.

Bread dough rising

It smelt fantastic as it cooked, and the bits from the breadmaker paddle/stirrer that I tried tasted excitingly new yet comforting. Perhaps this will become my new recipe and method for making panettone — my new Christmas tradition.

Merry Christmas from Taiwanxifu and family and happy and healthy eating over Christmas.

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About taiwanxifu

‘Taiwanxifu’ (pronounced ‘shee foo’) means ‘Taiwan daughter-in-law’ in Chinese and has been my nickname ever since I married my Taiwanese husband, Sam. I love sampling Taiwanese food, even local specialties such as stinky tofu, pigs blood cake and Taipei beef noodle soup with offal. But there are many other options on the menu. Promise!

5 Responses to Christmas Panettone, with Chinese characteristics

You’re too kind. It was actually a little undercooked on the top but weirdly that ended up being the most delicious bit (I guess because it was so moist). I had panettone insecurities and made a second one, using more traditional style ingredients (although not as exciting) and that shaped up well. I thought this one tasted much better, though, and was visually more appealling.